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The treasure trove of precious Kobe Bryant memorabilia found in an abandoned storage locker has been returned to Vanessa Bryant , according to TMZ Sports. In August “Bargain Hunters Thrift” which includes “Storage Wars” star Rene Nezhoda and his wife Casey uploaded a video on YouTube making the announcement. The couple showed everything that was inside the abandoned unit and explained how it ended up in their hands.
Nezhoda explained in the video that the storage unit was not owned by Kobe but by a famous stylist named Derek Roche and his assistant Antron Oliver. The forgotten unit was sold by Public Storage for only $375!
The guy who bought it called Nezhoda to tell him what he found inside the unit. Without any hesitation, Nezhoda bought the items for 13k. Nezhonda said he knew people were going to say he should give the stuff back to the Bryant family for free but since he bought the stuff for $13,000 it was rightfully his.
He did however recognize that there were 2 or 3 very personal items that he wanted to contact Vanessa about to get them back to her for free. The items were a pair of Air Jordans with the number 45 stitched on the back that is a size 7 and a half youth- meaning they likely belonged to Gianna. The second item was a small Miami Jersey in the number 15 that had their daughter‘s name “Natalia” in the back, there was another Jersey in the same style that said “Gianna.” Along with the personal items there were items of clothes that still had tags on them, Kobe Bryant shoes, and jerseys upon jerseys.
According to TMZ, there were 35 pairs of shoes, jerseys, Lakers practice gear, a Lakers all-access badge that says, “Mamba,” tax paperwork, a mink coat from a photoshoot and more. Nezhoda was planning to return the personal items and sell the rest to make a fortune until Vanessa learned about the auction. She felt the items belonged with the family and her reps reached out to Nezhonda before he listed the items to make a deal. TMZ spoke with Nezhoda who explained, ”Everything has been worked out. A number of personal items, worn items, and paperwork were sold directly back to the Bryant family.”
It’s not the first time the family has had to buy back its own items. Vanessa proudly called herself a “hoarder wife” last week and shared the incredible memorabilia she already owned including the Adidas shoes Kobe wore during his first championship run with the Lakers and his champagne-soaked locker room shirt and shorts after winning the title in 2001. She explained that the family didn’t get the items back after buying them back in 2013. “The fact that this was auctioned off and my husband had to buy this and more back is so sad,” Vanessa said. ”Glad we have it back... I keep EVERYTHING for my baby and our girls,” she added.